The current method of beverage distribution essentially considers the beverage truck driver a salesman. The driver""s truck is loaded with a selection of beverages, and the driver calls on accounts on a route. At each account, the driver determines what beverages are required or desired by the account, then the driver locates the beverages in his truck, unloads the beverages and delivers them to the account. This process would be relatively easy if only a single beverage were involved. For instance, if the driver only distributed a single brand of cola, his truck would be completely loaded with that one beverage, and it could be easily unloaded at each account, and accounts could be serviced until the truck was completely empty.
Accordingly, it is desirable to create a new beverage delivery system which takes full advantage of information available when a truck is loaded to improve delivery service. The truck can be loaded to specifically meet the orders of each account on a route and to minimize the time needed to select and unload the beverages ordered by each individual account.
Side loading route trucks are typically used for commercial deliveries to sales outlets that receive merchandise through a door at ground level, as opposed to a loading dock. Most bulk deliveries for large accounts are made utilizing tractor trailer units to deliver to a loading dock. The trailer has a rear door that open into a large interior area with a flat floor. The typical chain store wants such bulk delivery trucks in and out of their loading docks within a very narrow time span each morning. Furthermore, chain stores usually prefer to be the first delivery on a route. In order to satisfy these customer requirements, bottlers employ a large number of bulk rigs. Some of these bulk rigs may be left idle for much of the day following morning deliveries. The number of bulk rigs that are needed can be reduced by attempting to negotiate appropriate delivery times with chain stores, however this has not been a totally satisfactory solution. In an effort to overcome this problem. U.S. Pat. No. 4,659,132 describes a side load trailer which can be configured to carry bulk pallets. While this invention addresses the need to more efficiently utilize trailers, it does not provide for more efficient delivery of beverages to route accounts.
A principal object of the present invention is to provide a more efficient system for getting products from the point of manufacture or distribution to the retailer.
It is also an object of the present invention to facilitate the loading of beverage trucks with beverages sorted by account order rather than SKU.
It is a further object of the invention to provide improved truck designs to facilitate both the loading and unloading of trucks with beverages sorted by account order.
It is yet another object of the invention to provide truck designs that will permit loading combinations of bulk and route beverage orders.
It is another object of the invention to provide a mobile beverage cart to facilitate the loading and unloading of beverage trucks with beverages sorted by account order.
It is yet a further object of the inventor to provide a novel pallet for use with a matching hand truck to facilitate the loading and unloading of beverage trucks with beverages sorted by account order.
A transport and delivery system constructed and operated according to the invention utilizes a series of preferably wheeled carts having upstanding back and side retention members or walls, which have been loaded at a manufacturing and/or distribution facility with stacks of containers advantageously presorted by brand and quantity according to the orders to be filled. These stacks are preferably built on mini-pallets such that a given cart may be loaded with one or several (four for example) of such mini-stacks.
The location of each prefilled order may be recorded as to which cart or carts are involved and as to the particular location of the stack or stacks within the carts. For example, a given order might be contained in cart No. 4, stacks 1-3. Once filled with product the carts are wheeled into an elongate delivery van or trailer of conventional manufacture and positioned so that the carts line the opposite walls of the trailer in two laterally spaced rows leaving a center aisle down the middle of the trailer wide enough to access the carts with a two-wheeled hand truck.
The cart floors are preferably supported above the level of the floor of the trailer on wheels or other appropriate motive supports. A false floor may be provided along the aisle to elevate the walkway to the level of the cart floors, so that an operator, using a two-wheeled hand truck, is able to access the mini-stacks in the carts with the hand truck. The false floor is provided by opposing sets of retractable deck sections carried off the forward edge of each cart which can be moved into the aisle to form an elevated sectionalized walkway.
The deck sections have automatically folded and restored front support leg structures. The deck sections are disclosed as including at least one gas spring operative to assist an operator to move the deck sections between the extended and stowed positions. The springs also exert a constant downward biasing force on the deck sections which serves to maintain them in position during transport over any rough terrain and further act to retain the deck sections in the stowed and use positions.
The trailer van, which preferably opens at its back end, is fitted with a powered lift gate that can be raised to the level of the floor of the trailer. The false floor is thus supported above the level of the lift gate. According to a further aspect of the invention, a ramp is positioned between the false floor and lift gate to provide a transition from the elevated false floor to the lift gate. The ramp preferably includes a foldable section that, in use, extends out of the trailer and onto the lift gate and, when stowed, is hinged inwardly of the trailer van to accommodate closing of the back door(s) of the trailer.
According to the operation of the system, the carts, once loaded into and locked in the trailer, are transported along with the hand truck from the manufacturing and/or distribution center to the various retail delivery sites. Since the orders for each site may be prebuilt according to the type and quantity of the various brands of beverages or other products, the operator need only locate the order, remove the ministack(s) of containers from the cart(s) with the hand truck, and wheel the load(s) along the elevated false floor formed by the deck sections, down the ramp and onto the elevated lift gate, which is then lowered to the ground to enable the operator to wheel the order into the facility of the business receiving them. When the deliveries are completed, the emptied trailer may then be returned to the distribution center where the deck sections are returned to their stowed positions, and the empty carts are unlocked and removed from the trailer. The trailer can then be loaded with a waiting set of carts preloaded with additional orders, and the off-loaded emptied carts can be recycled to handle future orders.
Considerable labor and time is saved with this system, enabling delivery personnel to service a greater number of retail customers in a given region, complete their routes in less time, and service expanded territories.